Preface: Yao and Shun Zengyan is an ancient legend about the selection of the leader of a tribal confederation at the end of primitive society, referring to the ceding of the throne of an ancient emperor to a person with a different surname, reflecting the democratic system of the primitive commune. The way of ceding was a peaceful and democratic election, not a transfer of individual rights. It was not customary for the father to die and the son to succeed the son, but rather to choose a wise and capable person as one’s successor.
A long, long time ago, in the Yellow River basin, there were three very famous leaders: Yao, Shun, and Yu. They passed the position of leader through a method called “abdication.”
Yao, a descendant of the Yellow Emperor, lived in Pingyang. After becoming the leader, he lived a simple life, eating coarse rice and vegetable soup like everyone else. He only replaced his clothes and shoes when they were worn out. Everyone loved him very much, like their own parents and the sun and moon. After seventy years in power, Yao, who was old, did not intend to let his mischievous son Danzhu inherit the throne. He held a meeting, and everyone recommended Shun, saying he was both virtuous and talented. Yao was very happy and married his daughters to Shun. After testing Shun for twenty-eight years, he finally abdicated the throne to him.
Shun, a descendant of Zhuan Xu, was born in Zhufeng. After becoming the leader, Shun personally farmed, fished, and made pottery, earning the respect of everyone. After Yao’s death, the feudal lords did not go to see Yao’s son but went to see Shun instead. Shun organized meetings and assigned different people to manage land, education, civil affairs, etc., making society more orderly. Like Yao, he also held a meeting to select an heir, and everyone recommended Yu. In his later years, Shun inspected the southern regions and died of illness on the way to Cangwu.
After Shun’s death, Yu became the new leader of the tribal alliance.
通过阅读中国神话、民间故事、历史典故、人物传记学汉语，简单易学，中英对照，适合初学者！
Learning Chinese through reading Chinese mythology, folk stories, historical allusions, and biographies is easy to learn and bilingual, suitable for beginners!